If it seems like we’ve been waiting forever for Square Enix’s “Final Fantasy XIII,” it’s because we have. A trailer for the game, originally a PlayStation3 exclusive, was shown for the first time at E3 in 2006, months before the PS3 itself was released.

Since then, there’ve been more trailers, an announcement that the game will also release on Xbox360 in North America and Europe and a demo, which was released last week in Japan and is due out next month in the United States. While the game is expected shortly before the end of the year in Japan, Square Enix often takes up to six months to localize its games for North America, and another six months for Europe.

This time, however, we might not have to wait so long. In a recent interview with European site VideoGamer.com, producer Yoshinori Kitase said that translation of the game’s Japanese text, as well as recording of English audio, has already begun. In the past, the Japanese company has waited until the Japanese versions of “Final Fantasy” games are complete before beginning localizations for foreign markets.

Hopefully, this news means we’ll get our hands on one of this console generation’s most anticipated titles next spring, rather than in the summer or fall.